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Guardians match report:
Beadle's about but joke is on McGhee
Peter Barry at Portman Road
Monday November 29, 2004
The Guardian
Unfortunately in this funny old game the irony of the fourth official's name would probably have been lost on Mark McGhee as he remonstrated with him on the touchline about the performance of the referee Trevor Kettle.
However, after seeing his side denied three second-half penalties, two of them blatant, the Brighton manager might have guessed that the name of the official positioned between the dugouts was J Beadle.
Unfortunately for McGhee and his team the joke was on them as Kettle's reluctance to point to the spot in favour of the visitors enabled Ipswich to leapfrog Wigan to the top of the Coca-Cola Championship, courtesy of Shefki Kuqi's 22nd-minute strike.
"We had two stonewall penalties and another claim that was a maybe," insisted McGhee afterwards. "They were ridiculous decisions."
The clearest of them all to everybody inside Portman Road, except Kettle obviously, was the first appeal when Danny Cullip was seemingly tripped just inside the area by Kevin Horlock. However, to the Ipswich midfielder's relief, Kettle awarded a free-kick to the home side and booked Cullip for diving.
The referee made Brighton's anger boil over twice more during an open encounter which belied both teams' positions in the table.
Brighton exuded far more confidence and composure than befits a team hovering above the relegation zone after the introduction of Leon Knight in the 68th minute.
Knight, Brighton's leading light in attack in the last two seasons but relegated to the bench amid reports of a bust-up with McGhee, posted his side's second penalty appeal when his cross was controlled neatly by Fabian Wilnis. Knight claimed handball but Kettle waved away his protests.
However, there was no doubt that Wilnis did use his arms 10 minutes from time to wrestle Knight as the attacker attempted to turn and shoot. Again Kettle waved play on.
Worse still for Cullip, it was his deflection from Ian Westlake's hopeful long-range shot which allowed Kuqi to sneak in and lift the ball over Michel Kuipers for the winning goal.
Kuqi, now Ipswich's leading scorer with nine goals, could have scored again after half-time but his point-blank header was superbly kept out by Kuipers, who also pulled off an outstanding one-handed save to deny Tommy Miller in the dying seconds.
Top spot in the Championship is a notable achievement for a club who were in the doldrums of administration not long ago. But as Horlock conceded: "We will have to play a lot better to stay there. It would be a massive achievement if we went up. Everybody knows the problems Joe Royle has had to deal with. But he's got the players playing for him and we've got the right blend of youth and experience.
"At the minute that's good enough to put us top. Only time will tell if it's good enough to keep us there."
Beadle's about but joke is on McGhee
Peter Barry at Portman Road
Monday November 29, 2004
The Guardian
Unfortunately in this funny old game the irony of the fourth official's name would probably have been lost on Mark McGhee as he remonstrated with him on the touchline about the performance of the referee Trevor Kettle.
However, after seeing his side denied three second-half penalties, two of them blatant, the Brighton manager might have guessed that the name of the official positioned between the dugouts was J Beadle.
Unfortunately for McGhee and his team the joke was on them as Kettle's reluctance to point to the spot in favour of the visitors enabled Ipswich to leapfrog Wigan to the top of the Coca-Cola Championship, courtesy of Shefki Kuqi's 22nd-minute strike.
"We had two stonewall penalties and another claim that was a maybe," insisted McGhee afterwards. "They were ridiculous decisions."
The clearest of them all to everybody inside Portman Road, except Kettle obviously, was the first appeal when Danny Cullip was seemingly tripped just inside the area by Kevin Horlock. However, to the Ipswich midfielder's relief, Kettle awarded a free-kick to the home side and booked Cullip for diving.
The referee made Brighton's anger boil over twice more during an open encounter which belied both teams' positions in the table.
Brighton exuded far more confidence and composure than befits a team hovering above the relegation zone after the introduction of Leon Knight in the 68th minute.
Knight, Brighton's leading light in attack in the last two seasons but relegated to the bench amid reports of a bust-up with McGhee, posted his side's second penalty appeal when his cross was controlled neatly by Fabian Wilnis. Knight claimed handball but Kettle waved away his protests.
However, there was no doubt that Wilnis did use his arms 10 minutes from time to wrestle Knight as the attacker attempted to turn and shoot. Again Kettle waved play on.
Worse still for Cullip, it was his deflection from Ian Westlake's hopeful long-range shot which allowed Kuqi to sneak in and lift the ball over Michel Kuipers for the winning goal.
Kuqi, now Ipswich's leading scorer with nine goals, could have scored again after half-time but his point-blank header was superbly kept out by Kuipers, who also pulled off an outstanding one-handed save to deny Tommy Miller in the dying seconds.
Top spot in the Championship is a notable achievement for a club who were in the doldrums of administration not long ago. But as Horlock conceded: "We will have to play a lot better to stay there. It would be a massive achievement if we went up. Everybody knows the problems Joe Royle has had to deal with. But he's got the players playing for him and we've got the right blend of youth and experience.
"At the minute that's good enough to put us top. Only time will tell if it's good enough to keep us there."
